Pinless clothesline



may 2 WW c. P. FREDRICK 2,5@5,89@

PINLESS CLOTHESLINE Original Filed Jan. 4, 1.946

Patented May 2, 1950 UITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PINLESS CLOTHE SLINE Charles P. Fredrick, Seattle, Wash., assignor of one-half to Karl H. Kaye, Seattle, Wash.

Substituted for application Serial No. 638,966,

January 4, 1946.

1 This invention relates to clothes-lines, and particularly that character of clothes-line which permits washed items to be gripped directly by the line and hence obviates the need for clothes pins. The clothes-line of the present invention is of a chain nature having its component links produced from spring wire, and this application is a substitute for my patent application filed January 4, 1946. Serial No. 638,956, which became abandoned on July 8, 1947.

For its general object, the invention aims to perfect a clothes-line of this nature looking to an assured grip upon the washing which is applied thereto, and which permits the washing, when dry, to be removed with even greater facility and in which the user may, should she so desire, gather several of the dried items by a continuous sweeping motion of the arm working lengthwise of the line.

The invention has the still further and important object of providing a pinless clothes-line the individual links of which perform their clothes-gripping office by pinching the clothing between two paralleling strands spring-loaded to cause the same to be yieldingly urged directively toward one another, and which said links are peculiarized in that the weight of clothing hung from the line increases the spring tension to which the gripped clothing is subjected.

It is a further obiect still to devise a multiplelink clothes-line the components of which may be inexpensively produced and assembled, which is free of any sharp obstructions liable to catch upon washing either in course of applying the latter to or removing the same from the line, and which permits a user to easily add to or remove links from the chain where, say, the user may move to another location and find it necessary or desirable to alter the length of the line in such new location.

The invention has the yet further object of providing a multiple-link clothes-line which, for storage purposes, assures extreme flexibility in enabling the same to be rolled, balled-up, or otherwise compacted into a small compass, and which, when later removed for use, may be unrolled or shaken out of its compact condition with little if any liability of the links becoming snarled. Other and still more particular objects and advantages will, with the foregoing, appear and be understood in the course of the following description and claims, the invention consisting in the novel construction, adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawing:

This application January 27,

Figure 1 is a top plan View illustrating several connected links of a clothes-line produced in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view taken to an enlarged scale and detailing one of the links composing the clothes-line; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of said single link.

According to the present invention, the line is fabricated from a multiplicity of identical links each composed of one continuous piece of rustproof wire composed of spring-steel or other equivalent material. The equivalent material which I especially have in mind is plast c wire which, while now somewhat costly and presently lacking the uniformity in its elasticity characteristic, has, in the instance of some samples which I have obtained, shown surprisingly good resiliency.

In forming my links, denoted generally by the numeral ill, the wire is bent upon itself to produce a centrally placed bight l3 of comparatively large radius and the two free strands are each then given a return twist bringing the same as a coil in and under the bight to produce full-circle loops l2 lying one at one side and the other at the other s de of a longitudinal median taken through the bight and each more or less in the same plane as that of the bight. In producing these loops, the two strands are brought into or very nearly into touching relation and extend parallel to one another for the greater part of their length. Fig. 2 would seem to indicate that the two strands are normally separated somewhat. Self-evidently, however, and as will be apparent from an inspection of Fig. 1, the spr ng loops normally maintain the clamping shanks in substantial touching engagement. These parallel sections, designated II, will be hereinafter termed the shanks, and forwardly therefrom, and which is to say toward the free ends, the wire strands are first bent into an outward flare and are thence again brought inwardly to give an akimbo crook to each end. Beyond these crooked ends, which serve to marginally d fine a lead-in throat M giving facilitated access to the slot between the shanks, the end extremities of the strands are bent downwardly, and namely in planes at right-angles to the common plane occupied by the two shanks, to describe closed eyes l5.

The articulation of one link with another in the chain is accomplished simply by having the looped wire which rims the eyes l5 of one link lodge in the loops [2 of the next adjacent link, and in using the clothes-line a corner or other desired upper-edge portion of the piece of washing which is to be hung therefrom is fed into the throat l4 and drawn therefrom into the slot defined between the shanks. The loops l2 operate in conjunction with the bight 13 to each produce a substantial coil-spring acting upon the shanks to yieldingly resist any spread as between the shanks, and it is to be particularly noted that the consequence of a downward pull upon these shanks as the same are subjected to the weight of washing hung therefrom is to reactively, increase the force of the spring load and hence cause the shanks to exert even a stronger grip. When removing the string of washing from the line it becomes necessary only that the gripped portions be moved from between the shanks into the open throat and inasmuch as the directional movement is the same in respect of each of the multiple links it becomes possible for a number of the line-carried pieces; to be easily taken ofi the line in one uninterrupted sweeping motion.

Should it be desired to add links to or remove links from the chain, the matter of opening and later closing the eyes I5 is quite easily accomplished by the use of pliers or, in fact, simply by inserting a nail or other like instrument through the eye and imparting a slight twist to the same.

In respect of the procedural steps which are practiced in forming the links to shape, it is not necessarily required that the indicated order of sequence be followed, it being self-evident that the wire might, if desired, be first bent upon itself to bring the two shanks into substantial parallel touching engagement and the coils and bight which produce the spring processes thereupon developed as a subsequent step rather than first forming the bight and then bringing thefree strands back and under the same to create the coils. With this and other departures in mind and which may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, it is my intention that the hereto annexed claims be given the broadest interpretation which their employed language fairly admits.

What I claim is: 7

1. A link tor use in a pinless clothesline composed of a chain of said links joined in an in-line relation, and which comprises a length of spring wire bent upon itself to provide a pair of clamping shanks'ancl' having the bight of the wire projected by its ends laterally beyond the shanksand connected with each or saidshanks by respective 5 loops placed outside the shanks, the wire at the free ends of said shanks being looped to form eyes adapted to engage the loops'oi' the next adjacent link in the chain.

given an akimbo crook to describe a lead-in throat giving facilitated access to the space between the shanks and being terminally looped to form eyes adapted to engage the loops of the next'adjacent link in the chain.

3. A link for use in a pinless clothesline composed of a chain of said links joined in an inline relation, and which comprises a length of spring wire bent upon itself to provide a pair of clamping shanks and having the bight of the wire projected by its ends laterally beyond/the shanks and connected with each of said shanks by respective loops placed outside the shanks, the free ends of said wire being flared outwardly to present a lead-in throat giving facilitated access to the space between the shanks and having. the extremities looped to form eyes adapted to engage the loops of the next adjacent link in the chain. 7

4. The link of claim 3 in which said'terminal eyes occupy planes at right angles to the plane common to the two shanks.

' 5. A link for use in a pinless clothesline composed of a chain of said links joined in an'inline relation, and which comprises a length of REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in'the flle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 497,248 Lane May 9, 1893 692,308 Knight Feb. '4, 1902 763,309 Moye June 21, 1904 822,473 Peters June 5,1906 1,514,161 Justice Nov. 4,1924 

